But what is surprising is how scientists plan to do this \u2013 and who is involved. Within the next year, NASA will send a payload full of data to the Moon to test the possibility of lunar-based backup storage. This will form part of the Artemis<\/a> programme.<\/p> Their collaborators? The Florida-based computing start-up Lonestar<\/a> \u2013 plus the Isle of Man, the self-governing\u00a0British Crown Dependency in the Irish sea.<\/p> These partners hope to use blockchain to ensure the data is secure and protected against tampering. And, crucially, to prove that the information stored in the archives is authentic.<\/p> Blockchain is the decentralised ledger technology used to facilitate cryptocurrency<\/a>. Archive specialist Archangel<\/a> is already using it in a similar way. This is the first time it will be used on the Moon.<\/p> The test mission is scheduled to launch from US soil in February 2024. After the data cube lands, the partners plan to digitally \u2018frank\u2019 the data on Lonestar\u2019s data centre to prove its provenance on the Moon. This will then be transmitted back to Earth, where it will be assembled onto a blockchain to show the data has been verified.<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s a really interesting challenge, not just for us, but for NASA,\u201d said Kurt Roosen<\/a> in conversation with BBC Science Focus<\/em>. Roosen is head of innovation at Digital Isle of Man \u2013 the island\u2019s government-funded agency that supports its tech sector.<\/p> \u201c[People often tell NASA] \u2018You made up the moon missions\u2019 and proving that they\u2019re actually there is surprisingly difficult.\u201d<\/p> In true small island style, the Isle of Man has enlisted its post office to help with the mission. The post office has selected stamps to use as the test data, which they will digitalise and launch on the data cube.<\/p> They\u2019re not just any stamps. The Isle of Man is working with NASA to create stamps featuring the next person on the Moon<\/a> \u2013 and they hope King Charles will authorise these (as would happen with normal stamps on Earth) as the mission is taking place.<\/p> But why do we need lunar data centres at all, you ask? Well, it wouldn\u2019t be for housing your excess photos when you\u2019ve exceeded your phone storage. The mission hopes to protect humanity\u2019s most important discoveries and creations from being lost to a catastrophe on Earth.<\/p> Impacts of climate change<\/a> could cause one such catastrophe, says Roosen. But what the people behind the mission are particularly worried about is a situation where our planet becomes unliveable.<\/p> \u201cIn history, we’ve seen several circumstances where perceived bodies of knowledge have been lost or cultures have disappeared,\u201d Roosen told us. The legendary Library of Alexandria<\/a> in ancient Egypt, an unfathomable archive of human knowledge, is one such circumstance. It was destroyed in mysterious conditions by 500AD.<\/p> But nowadays, data is different. Rather than the papyrus scrolls of Alexandria, modern humanity\u2019s bodies of knowledge are largely digital<\/a> \u2013 and intertwined with a dependence on power.<\/p> Read more:<\/strong><\/p> The question became how to protect digital data properly, and in a way that will remain relevant for thousands of years into the future. Roosen\u2019s answer? Put it on the Moon.<\/p> But some remain sceptical. Prof Peter Bentley<\/a>, a computer scientist at University College London, compared the solution to \u201cthrowing a bottle containing a thumb drive into the sea. The data is not going to get hacked, but there are a few other issues.\u201d<\/p> Bentley also points out that there are similar conditions available on Earth, but without the hassle. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with an uninhabited Earth location, like the bottom of a disused mine? You don\u2019t need a spacecraft to reach it for repairs.”<\/p> He told BBC Science Focus<\/em> that keeping the equipment on the Moon would be \u201cconsiderably more difficult, not to say massively more costly\u201d than storing it on Earth. \u201cIt will be subjected to extremes of temperature and radiation and thus more likely to develop faults resulting in data corruption.\u201d<\/p> The lunar data cubes are not hard drives \u2013 and they\u2019re called \u2018cubes\u2019 but they\u2019re not that, either. They can be any shape. The one that will launch in February is a black rectangle about the size of a book, and will store a terabyte of data.<\/p> Powered by solar energy, with rudimentary processing capability and solid-state drives inside, the units do not use resources or need cooling technology. \u201cIt could sit there forever,\u201d says Roosen. In theory, this makes them more eco-friendly than data storage on Earth.<\/p> Roosen says that it\u2019s these same, simple qualities that make it safe from hacking and artificial intelligence (AI)<\/a>. As the units do not use the internet, any hacker wanting to tap into the communications would have to get through its point-to-point protocol. (This is like two people on each end of one phone line). With fewer points in the communication network, there is less opportunity for interception.<\/p> Roosen doesn\u2019t see civilian tampering as an issue either \u2013 at least not yet. \u201cWe would hope it will be a long time before individuals can go to the Moon themselves and vandalise things,” he said.<\/p> However, Bentley disagrees. \u201cData breaches and hacking have nothing to do with proximity. If you can connect to it, and you can get past the encryption and security, then you can get the data.\u201d<\/p> Hacking or viruses, then, could affect data on the Moon \u2013 unless nations keep this data \u2018unplugged\u2019, says Bentley. \u201cBut we could do that on Earth as well.\u201d<\/p> Storing national data in another country makes it subject to different legislation, including data protection laws.<\/p> While this mission will test the concept using stamps, in the future the data centres might store national data of a more sensitive kind.<\/p> This could include anything cultural information and financial records to human health \u2013 like genomics data held for pharmaceutical research. It’s the kind of data you\u2019d want to make sure was well-protected by clear legislation.<\/p> \u201cGovernments are the biggest holders of personal data in each country \u2013 there is a real obligation to protect that properly,\u201d said Roosen.<\/p> The project was inspired by ship registers, which make ships flying their country\u2019s flag a floating piece of that country (in terms of legal jurisdiction). And the same is true of satellites, including those that land on the Moon.<\/p> Storing data via a satellite effectively makes that area a remote part of the country\u2019s legal jurisdiction. When NASA\u2019s satellite lands next year, the mission will effectively see a piece of the Isle of Man re-created on the Moon.<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s an intriguing combination of things, which on the face of it, seems crazy,\u201d said Roosen. \u201cBut actually, when you line them all up, you think bizarrely there is some sense to this.\u201d<\/p> Prof Peter Bentley is a computer scientist and author who is based at University College London. He is the author of books including\u00a010 Short Lessons in Artificial Intelligence<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Robotics and Digital Biology.<\/em><\/p> Read more:<\/strong><\/p> Some people use hard drives. These guys are using blockchain on the Moon. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":33834,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/why-nasa-is-sending-national-secrets-to-the-moon.jpg",1200,675,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/why-nasa-is-sending-national-secrets-to-the-moon-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/why-nasa-is-sending-national-secrets-to-the-moon-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/why-nasa-is-sending-national-secrets-to-the-moon-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/why-nasa-is-sending-national-secrets-to-the-moon-1024x576.jpg",800,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/why-nasa-is-sending-national-secrets-to-the-moon.jpg",1200,675,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/why-nasa-is-sending-national-secrets-to-the-moon.jpg",1200,675,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Some people use hard drives. These guys are using blockchain on the Moon.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/33833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Protecting the past, for the future<\/h2>
Moon data: How secure is \u2018secure\u2019?<\/h2>
![\"Three](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2023\/09\/Lonestar-data-storage.png\")
Data’s home away from home \u2013 for national secrets<\/h2>
About our expert<\/h3>
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